Hundreds of drivers stranded in their cars overnight as temperatures plummeted to -14C. Journeys that normally take minutes taking hours, with motorists reporting traffic crawling at a mile an hour. Abandoned cars and lorries littering the sides of roads, causing even more obstacles to the traffic flow and delays.
This was the picture on the M8, the arterial link between Edinburgh and Glasgow, yesterday as blizzards hit rush hour traffic in the morning. Stranded motorists complained that gritters and police were thin on the ground and a breakdown in communications to motorists caught up in the mayhem compounded the gridlock on the road.
The situation in Edinburgh was little better with rush hour gridlock.
Government response
After initially saying that the weather was "unforecast", Transport Secretary Stewart Stevenson admitted today that weather forecast information was not incorrect (as he earlier suggested) but that rather there had been a communication breakdown between the Met Office and the government.
Edinburgh had 8-9 cms yesterday, and Glasgow around 5cm of snow, within the 5 to 10 cm fall that was forecast on Sunday night.
"The advice we were working on didn't meet requirements," conceded Stevenson.
With temperatures now several degrees below freezing, police are advising people only to venture out on the road for essential journeys.
Road clearing crews have reported this morning that the blades on snow ploughs have broken (see picture above) on the ice.
"Today we are now facing temperatures so low that salt is no longer working on the network," said Stevenson. "The advice not to travel is very good advice indeed."